Cassation Appeals Filed Against Decision to Imprison Ashot Minasyan
Ashot Minasyan, the former commander of the “Sisakan” detachment known by the nickname “Ashot Yerkat” (Ashot the Iron), and his defense team have filed cassation appeals against his 2-year imprisonment sentence. Liana Rafayelyan, the spokesperson for the Criminal Courts, reported this.
Earlier, appellate appeals were also filed against the verdict. Minasyan’s defense lawyer demanded that the first instance court’s verdict be overturned and a judicial act of acquittal be issued, while the prosecution demanded that the verdict be overturned and real imprisonment for a term of 2 years and 6 months be set as a punishment for Minasyan. However, the verdict remained unchanged.
Ashot Minasyan is accused of illegally acquiring, transporting, and possessing firearms, ammunition, and explosive materials. The verdict against him was announced on October 16, in the form of two years of imprisonment. According to the verdict, Minasyan failed to fulfill all the obligations stipulated by law, which served as a basis for applying criminal liability against him.
It should be recalled that Minasyan was initially also accused of involvement in the alleged case of preparing the assassination of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan. That criminal case was initiated against the backdrop of mass protests that took place following the contract signed on November 9, 2020. Subsequently, on November 15, former Director of the National Security Service (NSS) Artur Vanetsyan, RPA member Vahram Baghdasaryan, Ashot Minasyan, and Ashot Avagyan were arrested.
By court decisions, their arrest was recognized as unlawful, and the restraining measures (pre-trial detention) were rejected due to the absence of reasonable suspicion. More than a year later, the criminal prosecution against them was terminated on the grounds of the absence of a corpus delicti (element of crime). They were acquitted.
Minasyan’s case regarding the arms and ammunition episode was sent to the Court of General Jurisdiction of Syunik Province in 2022. At that time, Judge Boris Bakhshiyan changed Minasyan’s pre-trial detention to another measure. On December 26, 2024, the Syunik Province Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by Judge Varsenik Melkonyan, announced the verdict, finding Minasyan guilty and sentencing him to 2 years of imprisonment. Taking into account the period spent in custody, the final punishment amounted to 1 year and 10 months of imprisonment without conditional application, and a probation period was set for 1 year.